


AC2014 [13]: Lucky

by twotenths



Series: F1 Advent Challenge 2014 [10]
Category: Formula 1 RPF, Formula E RPF
Genre: Advent Challenge 2014, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2778032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twotenths/pseuds/twotenths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Ready?”</p>
<p>Bruno looks up from where he was sitting on the floor, frowning at his gloves. Karun is standing over him, suited up for the race, helmet under one arm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	AC2014 [13]: Lucky

**Author's Note:**

> Pants title, couldn't think of anything better. This comes to you all two days late after I had a busy weekend and couldn't be arsed to write on a train! Part 14 will be up soon and part 15 should also be up today!
> 
> Past the midway point, woohoo! \o/

“Ready?”

Bruno looks up from where he was sitting on the floor, frowning at his gloves. Karun is standing over him, suited up for the race, helmet under one arm.

“You know, I almost don’t want to race,” Bruno grumbles, fiddling with his water bottle, “What am I going to do from the back of the grid?”

“The best you can,” Karun replies firmly, offering a hand for Bruno to pull himself up with. “It’s not like either of us have had a particularly fantastic day so far.”

“Yeah, but I’ve not had a very good season so far,” Bruno sighs, accepting the hand and hauling himself to his feet, “At least you have some points!”

“Well, if you insist on crashing ..” Karun teases, until Bruno gives him a particularly sour look. “Come on, I was kidding. Just think: you must have got your bad luck for the season out of the way now.”

“Hmmm,” Bruno hums, not entirely convinced. “I must have broken a mirror at some point! Maybe I looked at it and it cracked?”

“With your pretty face? Not a chance,” Karun smiles, patting Bruno on the cheek. He’s buoyed when Bruno smiles back, finally beginning to respond to his attempt to cheer him up. Bruno looks over Karun’s shoulder, then drags him into the back of the garage, away from prying eyes, pulling Karun into a hug.

“Thanks,” Bruno says into his shoulder, enveloping him in his lanky arms.

“It’s okay. No crashing today, yeah? Or I’m not coming back to Sao Paulo with you tomorrow.”

“Ahhh maybe I will try and bin it on the first lap then?” Karun can hear the grin, even if he can’t see it.

“Cheeky!” Karun admonishes, with a poke in the ribs, “Good luck. I’ll see you after the race.”

“You’ll see me when I overtake you on lap five!”

“That’s the spirit,” Karun says as they walk into the garage and get into their cars, “But not a chance!”

***

Bruno pulls into the pitlane feeling bemused but content. According to his radio, he’d finished in 6th place, which not only meant that he had broken his duck, but he’d got a great haul of points. Somehow, he had managed to gain fourteen places, even after breaking the suspension on his first car when Sarrazin had binned it in front of him and he’d ..

Ah. Apparently a confession to Karun was warranted.

He climbs out of the car and heads over to the scrutineering garage to be weighed, when a flash of white and red storms past him, heading for the Mahindra garage. Bruno looks over his shoulder in confusion—Was that Karun? The thunderstorm masquerading as a driver has disappeared, so Bruno shrugs and heads over to the timing screens. _Lucas on the podium_ again, _he has more luck than is fair_ , Bruno grumbles to himself, eyes scanning down the list, _Jarno fourth, Nick has finally got a point too .. What happened to Karun?_

He frowns at the screen, showing him K. CHANDHOK in thirteenth place, last of the runners on the same lap. What went wrong?

***

When he gets back to the hotel later that evening, he finds Karun at the bar with Sam and Jean-Éric. All of them look distinctly pissed off, drinking beer and talking animatedly. Bruno orders four more bottles from the bar and brings them over to the table, putting them in front of the guys. JEV and Sam accept theirs gratefully, but Karun looks up at him with a twinkle in his weary eyes.

“You can’t sit with us if you haven’t been screwed over by massive kerbs and rubbish suspension today!”

Bruno grins sheepishly, and sinks down into the seat next to him. “In my defence, it was only because Stéphane binned it in front of me.”

Sam raises his eyebrows in surprise. “How did you finish so well then? What happened?”

“I broke my rear suspension on the wall avoiding Stéphane, who brought out a safety car. I managed to get around to the pits under the yellows and changed into my new car. I was in the pit window anyway so it wasn’t a big loss.”

JEV tuts and sighs, “That stupid safety car wrecked my strategy then the kerbs ruined my suspension two laps from the end!”

Bruno winces; he had heard that JEV was poised to win for much of the race, and he knew something about retiring so close to the end. He was empathetic but a small part of him was glad he hadn’t come in and won his first race whilst Bruno had two DNFs to his name—that would have been cosmically unfair.

“I got my line a bit wrong and launched off the kerbs,” Sam grumbles, miming sawing at a steering wheel, “You can’t steer a car in mid-air.”

Bruno looks to Karun. “Broke my suspension on a kerb early on, I was fucked from there,” he mumbles with a strained grin.

It’s unusual for Karun to swear—he’s so even tempered—so Bruno knows he must be really hacked off, even if he is smiling. He pats him on the shoulder, as he takes another swig of his beer.

“I wouldn’t drink too much, we’re all testing tomorrow,” Bruno warns, but all he gets is three identical glowers from the others.

“Hey!” Karun exclaims, snapping out of his bad mood, “You crashed!”

“I know, I know!” Bruno says, laughing. “I guess you’re not coming then and I’ll have to eat all of my mother’s rich, gooey, chocolate cake ..”

Karun thinks about this for a moment. “Fine. I’ll come if you let me have the window seat.”

“Deal.” Bruno prefers sitting by the aisle anyway, more leg room.

They turn back to the other two, who are both staring at them in confusion. “What’s this about?” Sam asks.

“Oh. Uhh Karun has to make a connection in Sao Paulo, so he’s staying at mine for one night before he heads back to India,” Bruno explains hastily.

JEV raises an eyebrow. “Riiiight ..” he says with a smirk. Bruno blushes, Karun fiddles with the label on his beer bottle, and Sam looks more confused than ever.

The conversation turns back to racing and berating sausage kerbs and flimsy suspension, much to their relief. After a while, Bruno stands up and stretches.

“I’m off to bed now, early morning,” he says.

“Yeah, get out of here, you lucky fucker!” Sam laughs, throwing a slightly beer-sodden napkin at him. “The only one to wreck their car and finish in the points!”

“Makes a change,” Karun says, smiling. This one is genuine, and Bruno smiles back.

Bruno leaves, flicking the napkin back at Sam with a grin as it hits him in the face. Minutes later, Karun also makes his excuses and departs, leaving JEV to spell out for Sam what was clearly going on between them.


End file.
